Plow colter

ABSTRACT

A plow colter assembly including a vertically disposed first shaft adapted to be operatively connected to the horizontally disposed plow beam and having a hollow bearing secured to and spaced from the first shaft. The second shaft is rotatably mounted in the bearing means and has a disc support arm operatively pivotally secured thereto which extends downwardly and rearwardly therefrom. A spring-loaded locking means yieldably maintains the disc support arm in an operative pivotal position with respect to the second shaft. The locking means is overcome or disengaged when the disc strikes a rock or the like to permit the disc support arm to pivot upwardly so that the disc will pass over the rock without damaging the colter assembly. The springloaded locking means returns the disc support arm to its operative position when the disc has passed over the rock.

United States Patent Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented now count: 4 cum, 5 Drawing m us. m

i (I Field of Search References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1904 Hardiman 10/1962 Olson 5/1967 Moran 11/1967. Schrnitzetal.

172/269 X 172/602 X 172/ 166 X Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Stephen C. Pellegrino Attorneyzarleryrlfiliee & Thointe ABSTRACT: A plow colter assembly including a vertically disposed first shaft adapted to be operatively connected to the horizontally disposed plow beam and having a hollow bearing secured to and spaced from the first shaft. The second shaft is rotatably mounted in the bearing means and has a disc support arm operatively pivotally secured thereto which extends downwardly and rearwardly therefrom. A spring-loaded locking means yieldably maintains the disc support arm in an operative pivotal position with respect to the'second shaft. The locking means is overcome or disengaged when the disc strikes a rock or the like to permit the disc support arm to pivot upwardly so that the disc will pass over the rock without damaging the colter assembly. The spring-loaded locking means returns the disc support arm to its operative position when the disc has passed over the rock.

PATENTEU AUB24 IHYI 3,601. 201

-PLOW COLTER Plow colters-have longbeen used to cut the ground in advance of the plowshare. These colters are easily attached to a plowbeam and extend downwardly therefrom. When the plow is being used in an'area of long straw, weeds, comstalks or the like, thecolters frequentlybecome plugged. The plow colters also havea tendency to break or bend when the disc member of the colter strikes a foreign object. Applicant is coinventor of an improved plow colter and which has been granted US. Pat. No. 3,351,139 which issued on Nov. 7, 1967. The plow colter disclosed in said patent included a shearpin means which would be sheared when the colter disc struck a foreign object such-as a rock or the like. The colter described in said patent worked extremelywell butit was found to be somewhat of a nuisance to constantly replace the shearpins upon breakage thereof which necessarily resulted in a loss of plowing time.

Therefore, it isa principal object of this invention to provide a plow colter which will not become plugged with foreign material.

A further objectof this invention is to provide a plow colter havinga spring-loaded locking means to prevent damage to equipment-upon the striking of a foreign object.

A further object of this invention is to provide a plow colter .whereinithe disc-supporting arm has-a spring-loaded locking means associated therewith which permits the disc and arm to raise overa rock or the like and which returns the disc and arm to an operative position. A further object of this invention is to provide a plow colter which may be readily secured to a variety of plows regardless of make or type. i A further object of this invention is to provide a plow colter which permits verticaland horizontal adjustment thereof with respect to the plow share.

A further object of this invention is to provide a plow colter which is economical of manufacture,'- durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be the art. I

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and. combination ofthe various parts ofthe device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illusapparent to those skilled in v trated in the'accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the; plow colter; I FIG. '2 is a side view of the plow colter secured to the horizontal plow beamaswould be, seen along. lines 2-2 of FIG. 3 is ,a sectionalview as seen along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4.: is a side view of the-plow colter illustrating the disc raising upwardly over a foreign object such as a rock; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side view of the plow colter illustrat- 1 ing the disengagement-of the. locking means.

the. reference numerall9pand is detachably secured to beam I0 bymeans of damp! 1 as seen in the drawings. The numeral 21 refers to a vertically; disposed shaft havingreduced diameter portionszat its upper and lowerends. Bar 23 having an opening 25, formedtherein issecured to shaft 21 by means of the upper reduced diameter portion thereofbeing received by opening 25 and 'beingwelded as seen in FIG. 2. A bar 27 havingan opening 29 formed therein is secured tothe lower end ofshaft 21 by'means of the lower reduced diameter portion thereof beingreceived-by the opening 29 and being welded therein as also illustrated in FIG.'2."The other ends of the bars 23 and 27 are each provided with a semicircular cutout portion .whichis'adapted to receive the end of a hollow bearing 31. Bars,23 and 27 are secured to hollow bearing 31 by means of welding or the like. A vertically disposed shaft 33 is rotatably mounted in bearing 31 and is prevented from downward movement with respect thereto by means of a ring 35 welded to the exposed upper end thereof. A pair of spacedapart plates 37 and 39 are secured to the exposed lowerend of shaft 33 by welding or the like as best illustrated in FIG. 3. An upstanding V-shaped stop means 41 is welded. to the upper surface of plate 37 adjacent the forward end thereof as best seen in FIG. I. It can be seen that the free ends of stop means 41 will engage the end of the bar 27 to limit the rotational movement of shaft 33 with respect to bearing 31 in two directions.

A plate member 43 is welded to one side of plates 37 and 39 and has a forward portion 45. The numeral 47 generally designates a spacer which is positioned laterally of plate member 43 while the numeral 49 generally designates a plate member which is secured to the spacer 47 and the plate member 43 by means of a bolt assembly 51 extending therethrough as illustrated in FIG. 1. The numeral 53 generally designates a disc support arm which is pivotally connected to the plate members 43 and 49 by means of bolt asarm 53 is positioned below the spacer 47 and has an arcuate upper end portion 57 which permits the arm 53 to be pivoted about bolt assembly 55.

A latch 59 is positioned between the plate members 43 and 49 adjacent the rearward ends thereof and is pivotally connected thereto at its upper end by means of pin 61. As seen in FIG. 5, the lower rearward end of spacer 47 is provided with a notch 62 which partially receives the curved upper end of the latch 59. As seen in FIG. 5, the lower end of the latch 59 is curved and the numeral 63 generally designates the juncture of the curved lower end and the straight side thereof for purposes of description. An ear member 65 is welded to the lower end of the latch 59 and extends laterally therefrom as best illustrated ,in FIG. 1. As seen in FIG. 2, an ear member 67 is secured to the lower forward end of plate member 49 by welding and extends laterally therefrom. A spring means 69 is secured at its forward end to ear member 67 and at its rearward end to ear member 65 to yieldably resist the counterclockwise pivotal movement (as viewed in FIG. 5) of latch 59. The numeral 77 generally designates an arcuate notch formed in arm 53 which is adapted to receive the lower rearward end of latch 59 at times as illustrated in FIG. 2.

A spindle 79 is received by a suitable opening in the lower end of arm 53 and is welded therein as illustrated in FIG. 2. A a

through clamp members 15 and 17 and secured to plow beam 10. Preferably, the length of shaft 21, that is, the distance between bars 23 and 25, should be somewhat greater than the vertical height of clamp 11 to permit vertical adjustment of 1 the plow colter with respect to the clamp 11. Shaft 21'may be selectively rotated with respect to clamp 11 at times to permit the lateral movement of the plow colter to properly align the disc member 83 with the plowshare mounted on the plow. When a shaft 21 has been rotated to its desired position with respect to clamp 11, U-bolt 13 is then tightened to prevent further rotational movement therebetween. If subsequent rotational or vertical adjustment between shaft 21 and clamp l 1 is necessary, U-bolt 13 may be simply loosened and the adjustment performed. It can be appreciated that upon the loosening of clamp 11, shaft 21 has a tendency to move downwardly with respect thereto. In conventional plow colters, the mounting shaft simply falls from the beam clamp upon the loosening thereof. However, in this device,

downward movement of shaft 21 is prevented by bar 23 engaging the upper end of clamp 11 which prevents the plow colter from falling from the plow beam.

Stop means 41 limits the rotational movement in two directions of shaft 33 with respect to bearing 31 due to the engagement of the rearward ends of stop means 41 with the projecting forward ends of bar 27. Stop means 41 prevents undesired wabbling of the plow colter with respect to the plow beam.

- In normal operation, the disc support arm 53 is positioned in the relationship illustrated in FIG. 2. The tension of the spring means 69 causes the latch 59 to be moved into engagement with the notch 77 in the arm 53. The latch 59 is urged into engagement with the notch 77 by the spring means 69 due to the fact that the spring force is exerted on the lower end of the latch 59 while the latch 59 is pivoted at its upper end. When the disc 83 strikes a rock 87, sufficient resistance will be encountered by the disc 83 so that sufficient upward force will be imposed upon the arm 53 to overcome the force of the spring means 69 maintaining the latch 59 in the notch 77. When the upward force imposed in the am 53 overcomes the spring force of the spring means 69, the latch 59 is pivoted about pin 51 out of engagement with the notch 77 so that the disc 83 can pass over the rock 87 without damage to the structure. As soon as the disc 83 has passed over the rock 87, the force of the spring means against the lower end of the latch 59 will cause the latch 59 to pivot the arm 53 downwardly and forwardly until the lower end of the latch is received by the notch 77. In effect, the latch 59 and spring means 69 act as a spring-loaded locking means to maintain the arm 53 in an operative condition until a rock or the like is struck by the disc 83. The spring-loaded locking means is overcome when sufficient resistance is encountered by the disc 83 to permit the disc to'move upwardly over the object without damaging the equipment. If desired, the lower rearward end of the latch 59 and the notch 77 may be provided with serrated surfaces to increase the frictional engagement therebetween to further increase the amount of force necessary to disengage the latch 59 from the notch 77. The springloaded locking means pennits the pivotal movement of the arm 53 as described above without the necessity of constantly replacing shearpins which would be sheared upon the disc 83 striking a rock.

As seen in FIG. 2, the upper end of the arm 53 is substantially tapered and therefore provides as much clearance for the plow colter as is present in the plow itself. Because the upper end of the arm 53 is positioned closely to the horizontal plow beam 10, long weeds, cornstalks and the like will not become entangled therewith. The plow colter 19 is extremely durable in use for several reasons. The substantial length of bearing 31 and shaft 33 creates a large bearing surface therebetween which dissipates the strain over a large surface to prevent any twisting or damage to the mounting means. The long bearing means also insures that the plow colter will caster easily. The design of plow colter 19 is such that it may be quickly and easily secured to any make or type of plow. Thus it can be seen that the device accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my plow colter without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim: 1. In a colter assembly for a plow having a beam means, said plow having rearward and forward ends,

a hollow bearing 'means operatively secured to said beam means and having upper and lower ends,

a shaft rotatably mounted in said bearing means and having upper and lower ends,

a support means operatively secured to said shaft adjacent the lower end thereof, a disc support arm operatively pivotally secured adjacent its upper end to said support means, said disc support arm being pivotally movable from first to second positions,

said disc support arm having a disc means rotatably secured at its lower end,

said disc support arm normally extending downwardly and rearwardly from said support means,

said disc support arm having a notch formed therein adjacent its upper rearward end,

a spring-loaded latch means having upper and lower ends and being operatively pivotally secured at its upper end to said support means and having its lower end normally received by said notch,

said spring-loaded latch means maintaining said disc support arm in its first position until a predetermined force is applied to said disc means to overcome the force of said spring-loaded latch means, said disc support arm pivotally moving upwardly to its second position when said predetermined force is applied to said disc means, said disc support arm being returned to its first position by said spring-loaded latch means after said predetermined force is removed from said disc means,

said support means comprising a plate means having first and second plate members positioned on opposite sides of the upper end of said support arm, one of said plate members being rigidly secured to said shaft,

said latch means being pivotally connected to said plate members and being positioned therebetween rearwardly of the upper end of said support arm,

said notch receiving at least a portion of the lower end of said latch means therein and being normally positioned below and rearwardly of the pivotal connection of said latch means,

said spring-loaded latch means including a spring means connected to and extending between said plate means and said latch means to normally urge said lower end of said latch means downwardly into said notch.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said latch means has a first ear member secured thereto and extending laterally therefrom, said other plate member having a second ear member secured thereto and extending laterally therefrom, said spring means secured to and extending between said ear members.

3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said spring means is secured at its rearward end to said first ear member at a point rearwardly and below the pivotal axis of said latch means and is secured at its forward end to said second ear member at a point forwardly and below the pivotal axis of said latch means.

4. The assembly of claim 3 wherein said support arm extends downwardly and rearwardly from its pivotal connection to said plate means, said notch being disposed below and rearwardly of the pivotal connection of said support arm when said support arm is in its first position. 

1. In a colter assembly for a plow having a beam means, said plow having rearward and forward ends, a hollow bearing means operatively secured to said beam means and having upper and lower ends, a shaft rotatably mounted in said bearing means and having upper and lower ends, a support means operatively secured to said shaft adjacent the lower end thereof, a disc support arm operatively pivotally secured adjacent its upper end to said support means, said disc support arm being pivotally movable from first to second positions, said disc support arm having a disc means rotatably secured at its lower end, said disc support arm normally extending downwardly and rearwardly from said support means, said disc support arm having a notch formed therein adjacent its upper rearward end, a spring-loaded latch means having upper and lower ends and being operatively pivotally secured at its upper end to said support means and having its lower end normally received by said notch, said spring-loaded latch means maintaining said disc support arm in its first position until a predetermined force is applied to said disc means to overcome the force of said spring-loaded latch means, said disc support arm pivotally moving upwardly to its second position when said predetermined force is applied to said disc means, said disc support arm being returned to its first position by said spring-loaded latch means after said predetermined force is removed from said disc means, said support means comprising a plate means having first and second plate members positioned on opposite sides of the upper end of said support arm, one of said plate members being rigidly secured to said shaft, said latch means being pivotally connected to said plate members and being positioned therebetween rearwardly of the upper end of said support arm, said notch receiving at least a portion of the lower end of said latch means therein and being normally positioned below and rearwardly of the pivotal connection of said latch means, said spring-loaded latch means including a spring means connected to and extending between said plate means and said latch means to normally urge said lower end of said latch means downwardly into said notch.
 2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said latch means has a first ear member secured thereto and extending laterally therefrom, said other plate member having a second ear member secured thereto and extending laterally therefrom, said spring means secured to and extending between said ear members.
 3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said spring means is secured at its rearward end to said first ear member at a point rearwardly and below the pivotal axis of said Latch means and is secured at its forward end to said second ear member at a point forwardly and below the pivotal axis of said latch means.
 4. The assembly of claim 3 wherein said support arm extends downwardly and rearwardly from its pivotal connection to said plate means, said notch being disposed below and rearwardly of the pivotal connection of said support arm when said support arm is in its first position. 